Homeless get mail with general delivery

He doesn't live there - but neither do the thousands of other New Yorkers who get mail sent general delivery to Manhattan's busiest post office.

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Once the nation's only form of mail service, general delivery offers people without permanent addresses a way of getting their mail without having to pay for a post office box.

Unlike other parts of the country where the service is practically extinct, it thrives here because of a growing homeless population.

"I found out about it from being on the street," said Green. The 49-year-old Brooklyn native who recently secured transitional housing after years of being homeless was picking up mail last week. "There aren't any Christmas cards, just the things that are necessary."

At the beginning of each month, when Social Security checks and disability payments are delivered, a line of homeless people stretches outside the general delivery office at the James A. Farley Post Office between Eighth and Ninth Aves.

The U.S. Postal Service doesn't track how many people get general delivery, but local mail officials say the general delivery lines have been getting longer in the past few years - and so are the stacks of mail for the service.

"Most of our customers are down on their luck and coming here helps them stay connected with their families and government services," said Patricia McGovern, a Postal Service spokeswoman for the five boroughs.

The process is simple: Senders write the person's name, General Delivery, city, state and zip code. Recipients go to their local post office, show ID and get their mail. The post office holds it for 10 days or, if it is a check, 30 days.

The service is so common in New York that the Farley Post Office, which stretches from 31st to 33rd Sts., reserves a separate office at 390 Ninth Ave. for general delivery.

"It's convenient for homeless people because we don't have mailboxes," said 43-year-old Lawrence Williams, who lives in a nearby shelter and picks up his mail every two weeks. "Everybody here is homeless."

The city counted 10,165 homeless families last year, up 10% from the previous year. There were also 21,897 single adults entering the shelter system last year, about the same as the previous year but 5% higher than in 2003.

"Being homeless and trying to organize your life is difficult, and having a reliable place to get your government checks and other important papers is a huge plus," said Mary Brosnahan, executive director of the Manhattan-based Coalition for the Homeless.

Homeless people interviewed at the Farley Post Office said they find general delivery helpful but added that they also have no choice if they want their mail.

"I don't want to use it," said 53-year-old Shirley Reed, who lost her home in Philadelphia two years ago and now shuffles between a motel near the Port Authority and park benches. "I want to get my mail at home again, delivered to my doorstep by a mailman."